The Office of Civil Contingencies and Gibraltar Fire & Rescue Service (GFRS) jointly organised a tabletop exercise which highlighted the importance of preparing for possible scenarios and multi-agency working.

The exercise tested all emergency services, other responding agencies and the military on a major incident involving a significant rockfall, causing building collapse or structural damage resulting in fatalities and multiple trapped casualties. Operational and Tactical levels of command were exposed to a complex scenario in order to test their own organisational capabilities and multi-agency interoperability skills.

Lee Howell, the Response and Capacity Building Coordinator from the UK’s International Search and Rescue Response (ISAR), provided an overview of ISAR capabilities and operations. As part of the exercise, UK ISAR assisted local responders with specialist advice on Urban Search & Rescue.

ISAR has established itself as the premier international search and rescue team, serving as the official UK Government response funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The Minister for Civil Contingencies, the Hon Leslie Bruzon, said: “It is very encouraging to see a multi-agency approach testing all levels of commands in different scenarios. The support of ISAR is also important, as they have recently been involved in earthquakes in Morocco and Turkey, which means they bring a unique experience of this region that we can put into practice in Gibraltar. I would like to thank the Office for Civil Contingencies and GFRS for their efforts in organising this successful exercise.”